Winning
by Straightjacket Serenade
Summary: A short monologue-type story about what Ridgedog thinks of the Survival Games- And the prize, of course.


Ridge smiled. The sound of the slaughter was music to his ears. It was all quite fascinating, really. The way the contestants ran around like rats in a maze, setting traps and hiding, forming alliances and attacking the others. It was all simply fascinating, and for him to have masterminded it all- that was the icing on the cake.

The alliances really were one of the most interesting parts. Only two types of people made alliances; the geniuses and the fools. Those who were smart would find someone who blindly trusted them and pair up. They would work together, ambushing, sneak attacks, scouting, things only a group could do. They were almost always unstoppable, and they almost always made it to the end.

Of course, there could only be one winner.

That was his second favorite part, them finding out that they were the only ones left. That it was all over- almost. That cold moment of realization when the fool realized what the next step was. The genius had always known what had to happen, and had been preparing for it from the start. It was truly amazing, watching lover turn on lover, friend turn on friend, each in the hopes that they'd be the victor.

Winning. There was his favorite part, because there were so many different reactions. Some were ecstatic. The fact that they survived, coupled with the knowledge that they had just won the mysterious prize from Ridgedog himself was simply too much. Many were suspicious, and with good reason. Ridge had, after all, just forced the person to kill their friends, simply for entertainment. Of course, no matter who it was, there was always that grim knowledge of what they'd just done. But none of it mattered, because they had won the prize!

The prize. There was much speculation as to what the prize was. No one truly knew- Ridge was far too careful to let information like that slip- but there would always be rumors. Some believed it was all the riches one could ever imagine, enough gold and diamonds to last a lifetime. Ridge was certainly wealthy enough for that to be a possibility. People thought that once Ridge gave the victor the spoils, he or she would leave their old home to live a better life with the other winners of the survival games.

A less widely accepted thought was that the winners were invited to come live with Ridge in his mansion. What a joke! He couldn't believe people could actually be so clueless as to think he would do that. Let them into his mansion? Not even as a servant.

Of course, there were those few. Those paranoid, delusional few with a different theory as to what happened to the winners. What happened after the games, after Ridge announced and congratulated the winner. After the cameras were off. After everyone was finished watching. Ridge made sure those few were the first to die when he put them in the games.

Speaking of the games, he turned his attention back to the one in progress, just in time to see a victor in the making. She was young, slight- not his first guess at all. Nevertheless, he had to acknowledge her achievement in some way.

"Congratulations! You have just won the survival games!" He called. The girl cheered, but the detached horror of what she had done never left her eyes. He descended, talking about what an honor it was to have made it so far, how lucky she should feel, all sorts of unmemorable chatter, more for the cameras and audience than anything else. Only when he was sure the cameras were all off, that there was no one to see but Ridge and the girl, did he really continue.

"So you have won the survival games, and therefore the prize," he said. She grinned as Ridge moved closer.

"Of course, there's just one thing we'll have to take care of first," he said, his hand moving to his belt, and the enchanted diamond sword sheathed there. The girl realized what was happening, and tried to run. They always try to run. They're never quite fast enough.

Ridge smiled. The sound of the slaughter was music to his ears.


End file.
